Cruise Life with Monster Girls
by Ardenev
Summary: Kimihito and gang have won an exclusive two-week cruise trip in a lucky draw! But is it really just a mindless vacation, or is there something going on behind the scenes?


**3 Aug 2015: Ch. 1 updated with new text!**

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Kimihito stood on the hilltop, a fatigued smile on his face. It'd taken them some effort getting here, but it'd been worthwhile.

Once again, he gazed out at the incredibly blue horizon, one hand shading his face from the bright sun. The sea lay spread out before him, a vast expanse of rich blue water and foamy white waves glittering in the afternoon sun. Not that he'd never seen the sea before… but it had been a while since their last time here, and he'd forgotten how breathtaking the scenery could be.

From his vantage point, the beach stretched out in both directions, like a long yellow carpet sandwiched between the grassy hill and the sparkling ocean, dotted here and there with the candy-cane red and white of beach umbrellas.

He inhaled deeply, letting the ocean air suffuse his lungs. Coming off the light sea breeze, the air smelt fresh, like the pleasant smell of clean laundry and washed fabric, mixed with traces of salt spray coming off the beachhead. As he exhaled, the smell of ocean air lingering, he let his eyes drift to the jetty below. His eyes widened involuntarily as he caught sight of the ship.

 _I-Is that the Galaxy!?_

Far below, a magnificent cruise liner floated on the ocean, its white paint bright against the rich blue hues of the surrounding water. Even from this distance, he could easily tell it was at least two hundred metres long, its white hull curving into a sleek prow near the front, studded with hundreds of small windows set into the hull. An array of multi-layered decks made up the prow, each one staggered to create a sun deck complete with deckchairs and beach umbrellas, with the very top one converted into a swimming pool. All in all, not a bad way to spend summer vacation.

"Wow, it looks fabulous!"

"I can't believe we're going to be out there for two whole weeks!"

"Papi's never seen such a big bird bath before!"

"Ah, to return to the land of my people – I'm so happy!"

"Who could have imagined winning this in a lucky draw, hmm?"

Kimihito turned around to face the girls, smiling involuntarily at their obvious excitement. He was feeling pretty upbeat, too. "Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're about to board – does everybody have their passports ready?"

Everyone nodded, save one.

"What's a passport?" Papi asked, wide-eyed and innocent. Her expression changed to one of mild confusion as she looked around at six exasperated faces. "What? Was I supposed to have one?"

"She's a total birdbrain, isn't she…" Rachnee muttered, a little too audibly.

"Hey! Papi's not a birdbrain! I'll show all of you – I'm just as smart as anybody here!" The harpie huffed, stomping off as angrily as she could manage on her petite claws. Three steps later she came to an uncertain halt, and turned around, a puzzled look on her face. "Umm… what were we talking about again?"

Kimihito resisted the urge to palm his face, grimacing. _You've… gotta be kidding me… And she didn't mention this when I asked the last three times!?_

"Never fear, Master!" Cerea announced, smirking in a self-satisfied manner. She tossed her blonde locks with one hand, letting it billow out dramatically in the breeze as it settled back down. Grinning, she folded her arms across her sizable bosom. "Thanks to my careful brainstorming and meticulous planning, I was able to anticipate this exact scenario, and planned around it! So there's no need to worry – I've got Papi's passport in my own luggage!"

"Really, Cerea!? You're the best! Where is it?"

"Ah, well… give me a moment..."

If he'd been relieved, it was short-lived. Kimihito could only watch, utterly bemused, as Cerea set her backpack down on the ground like it wasn't five feet tall, unzipped it and began rummaging through it. From its sheer size, he guessed it was going to take much longer than a moment.

"….*sweatdrop*…Cerea… umm, how do I put this… well, it's good to be prepared, but…"

His voice trailed off into a mumble as she started tossing out random articles of clothing, clearly not having heard him, all the while muttering under her breath. "No… no… not that… it was around here somewhere…"

 _…did you really have to bring all that stuff…?_

"For goodness' sake, you're never going to get that past security!" Miia said, exasperated. "I mean, what did you even put inside? A lifeboat?"

"Of course! And a few other essentials." When the stares didn't abate, Cerea sighed, her irritation showing even as she continued showering the surrounding area with button-up shirts, oversized skirts and even more oversized lingerie. A bra landed on Kimihito's head, which he promptly took off and dropped, evidently flustered.

"Well, if you _must_ know, I obviously brought my armor and sword, in case of an attack on Master's life. Then I packed my tatami mats, in case the rooms we get aren't comfortable enough. And I definitely had to bring some extra clothes, of course, and a camera, and extra toiletries, and towels, and swimsuits, and snacks, and…"

Miia's hand had already found her forehead, her eyelids twitching slightly, as Cerea continued rattling off the items on an increasingly long list of useless things, oblivious to the stares she was getting. Kimihito just looked on, too used to this kind of thing by now to do much more than heave a long sigh.

… _Another day, another disaster, huh?_

"…and of course I had to bring some spare batteries for the camera, and another set of spares in case the spares didn't work, and a fourth set of spares in case _those_ didn't work, and a spare camera too, and some spare batteries for the spare camera, and – "

"Geez, enough already! What's the use of bringing all that junk if you can't find something the size of a notebook?!"

"W-Why, I never! I'll have you know–"

"Book? Oh, Papi brought a book too!" The sheer improbability of hearing the words "Papi" and "book" in the same sentence was enough to grab everyone's attention.

One second later, six jaws promptly hit the floor.

There, clutched in Papi's feathered hand, was something that looked like a _very_ tattered, scratched notebook. On the battered cover, in Mrs. Smith's impeccable handwriting, it was labelled: _Papi's Passport_. _If found, please return to owner, who is easily identifiable by her birdbrained nature._

A stunned silence settled, during which Papi once again looked around from face to astonished face, her eyes narrowed slightly, cheeks puffed up in mild annoyance. "Geez, what's wrong with all of you today? Why do you keep looking at me like that? Haven't you ever seen a book before?"

"Did she have that this whole time?!"

"Papi can _READ_?!"

"But – I packed – I could have sworn – Master, I – "

They were interrupted by two horn blasts sounding in the distance, one short, one long, signalling that boarding was about to end. Following that, there was a brief pause during which everyone blinked at the precise same moment, equally uncertain. And then –

"CRAP, WE'RE LATE! RUN FOR IIIIT!"

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 **A/N: Ah, Cerea and Papi, cute as usual.**

 **Stay tuned for the next installment!**


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